GOD SPEAKS!

         

   The fresh picked peaches were laid out on the kitchen counter.   Maddie, my 7 year old granddaughter came into the kitchen and said to me, "Granny, these would make a delicious pie!"   I am not a pie maker and so as not to discourage her, I suggested we make a peach cobbler.   She googled a recipe, and found one we had the ingredients for and we began together.  I peeled the peaches, she sliced them.  I got out the dry ingredients and she mixed them.  Together we assembled the cobbler and then took it to her house to bake.

            Pipping hot out of the oven she was the first to put her spoon in for a sample.  Hmmm, it was good.  And standing by the counter she takes another taste, and another and another.   It was time for dinner and so she put another small taste on her plate.  "Granny, this peach cobbler is so good."   After dinner when it was time for dessert, the cobbler was put on the table, minus the tastes.  Those little tastes before dinner could now be savored and enjoyed with a good sized serving, and Maddie served herself a generous portion.

            Reflecting on my life with God I see some similarities.  God invites me to "Taste and see that The Lord is good!" I often just taste a little and then I hear the invitation to do more than a taste.  He invites me to sit down, savor and enjoy the  fullness and delight of much as I can of what God has prepared for me! 

            Several weeks ago we were on the golf course and we met up with Jack and his youngest daughter Millie.   It is not uncommon for a twosome to become a foursome and so we invited Jack and Millie to join us. We had met Jack a few weeks earlier when he was golfing with his middle daughter, Mary.  I was struck by the differences in the two girls and how their father responded to each.  The older one Mary was very intent on learning the game of golf.  She was open and eager to learn and develop skills needed to play well.  She could hit the ball well for a 10 year old and I sensed that her dad had invested time in teaching her and playing with her.

            Millie's response to the game was completely different!  She had come to spend time with her daddy and to delight and enjoy not only his presence and pleasure but all that surrounded them.   The sand trap became a beach, the lush green grass became a gymnastics mat, the sidewalks became her theater stage, and the golf cart her royal carriage. She ran, skipped, tumbled, free and unhindered in our presence.

            Although completely different, I am drawn to the girls "at homeness" in their father's presence.  He taught them well and what he couldn't teach, he must have engaged someone in their life who could.  This gave them both a sense of being at home in the world, free and unhindered.

            My own spiritual journey is somewhat like theirs.  Learning and growing in new ways, God my teacher who also invites me to learn His ways from others.  The continual invitation to live unhindered, freely and lightly.  I am drawn again to Eugene Peterson's The Message Matthew 11:28-30, "Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.  Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

As children go back to school, I too am ready to get back in the "school routine".   I look for places that will nurture and encourage my spiritual journey and also those places where I take time to savor what God has for me in this season of my life.